


Destiny at Christmas

by AJsRandom



Series: Christmas Fluff [1]
Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Christmas, Christmas Fluff, F/M, Magic, Matchmaking, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-24
Updated: 2015-12-24
Packaged: 2018-05-08 19:11:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,222
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5509781
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AJsRandom/pseuds/AJsRandom
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Merlin uses his magic to find others' soulmates. What if he found his at Morgana's Christmas party?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Destiny at Christmas

Merlin glanced up at the building in front of him. This had to be one of the poshest buildings in town, in the poshest neighborhood. Gaius, dressed as Father Christmas, put his hand on Merlin’s shoulder. “Come on, we’re going to be late.”

This party would be different. People he _should_ know are going to be there. They all go to the same university as he does but he isn’t part of their crowd. The posh crowd of footballers and socialites. But he’d definitely know them by the end of the night. He’d probably know them better than they knew themselves. That was just how his magic worked.

Ever since he was young, he’d known he was different from other children. When he touched someone’s hand, he could see the important events of their life—their birth, their soulmate and their death. And it wasn’t always good news. For example, his mother’s soulmate was his father, and he had died before Merlin’s birth.

Not many people knew about his “talent” (as he liked to put it). Just his mother, his childhood friend Will and Gaius (Merlin had reconnected him with his soulmate, Alice). So he’d turned it into a moneymaking venture, pretending to be simply psychic. He’d done carnivals, fairs and parties for quite a while now. Around Christmas he liked to pair with Gaius, who had enough magical ability that he could send and receive telepathically. Merlin shook peoples’ hands and told the dressed-up Gaius, who told them what they wanted for Christmas, or rather, _who_. They made a surprising amount of money this way.

“Which flat again?” he asked Gaius as they got in the elevator.

“Seven-B.”

They rode the elevator in silence until the seventh floor. Then they got out and moved down the hall until they stood in front of 7B. Merlin knocked on the door and it was opened less than a minute later by a pretty, mocha-skinned woman, who yelled behind her, “Hey, Morgana, they’re here.” She turned back to Merlin and offered him her hand. “Hi, I’m Gwen.”

As he took it, scenes from her birth flashed before his eyes, followed by a handsome blonde man helping her pick up fallen books. The final scene showed her, a smile on her aged face as she closed her eyes for the last time. When it faded, he said, “Hello, Gwen, nice to meet you,” as if nothing special had happened.

“Come in,” she invited and held the door open.

Merlin and Gaius came through and surveyed the scene in front of them. Several people milled about the room, some holding drinks, but all involved in conversation. A table held festive foods and jazzy Christmas tunes were playing in the background. Merlin smiled. He loved Christmas so much.

An instant later, one of the most gorgeous women Merlin had ever seen approached them. Her eyes were jade green, her skin pale, her lips painted a luscious red, and her hair fell in ebony locks around her head. He shook his head to clear it just before she said, “Hello! You must be Merlin.”

She held out her hand, which Merlin took. Before his eyes flashed pictures of her birth—a beautiful woman who looked much like the one before him. But her soulmate—he gasped out loud when he saw his own face staring at him in this moment. He let go of her hand just as he caught a glimpse of an ancient version of her.

“Are you quite all right?” the woman asked, concerned.

“Yes, I’m fine. You must be Morgana.”

“Just so.” She smiled beautifully and he nearly passed out. “Can I get you something to drink? You look kind of ill.”

“I really am fine, but some water would be nice.”

“No problem. You and Father Christmas can sit on the sofa over there.” She pointed to a plush sofa sitting a few feet away.

“Thanks.”

As he and Gaius walked over to the sofa, Gaius spoke in his head: “ _What happened there? You really do look ill_.”

“ _Gaius, I’m pretty sure I just met my soulmate_.”

“ _What?!_ ”

“ _I saw my own face staring at me when I shook her hand_.”

“ _That’s incredible! Oh, here she comes_.”

Merlin looked up. Morgana was indeed headed their way with a glass of water, which she handed Merlin when she reached them. “Thank you,” he told her.

“You’re welcome.” She sat down on his other side. “We’ll get started in a little while. Father Christmas, you’ll sit in the stuffed chair over there, if that’s agreeable to you?”

“That would be fine, my dear,” Gaius answered.

Merlin nodded and smiled at Morgana then watched her walk off to talk to the blonde man he’d seen in Gwen’s vision _. I wonder if she_ knows _yet?_ He wondered idly before returning to pondering Morgana. It seemed arrogant to assume they’d get along, just like that, but there it was. He had seen himself in Morgana’s future and he’d never been wrong.

Several minutes later, Morgana came back to tell them she was announcing them and Gaius could move to the chair. True to her word, she turned around and raised her voice, “Attention everyone!” Conversations immediately died out. “We’ll now enjoy the fun part of the evening—Merlin and his close personal friend, Father Christmas!”

There were several whoops and a smattering of applause. Merlin stood up to address the crowd. “Feel free to come up one at a time and let us tell you what- or _who_ -you want for Christmas.” There were a few more catcalls before conversation resumed. A pretty blonde woman approached them.

“Hello, I’m Elena,” she said. He took her offered hand and the vision began. He saw her literally running into a handsome, olive-skinned man who gave his name as Lance.

He smiled and let go of her hand. “Go ahead and sit on Father Christmas’s lap. He’ll let you know what it is you want for Christmas. To Gaius he said mentally, “ _Her soulmate’s name is Lance. She’s already met him_.” He saw Gaius nod as Elena settled herself on his lap.

Merlin smiled and went back to people watching. One of his favorite pastimes was watching a person and guessing what they were like, then meeting them to see how accurate he was. He’d learned a lot about human nature this way, which aided him in his course of study, psychology. Behind him he heard Elena exclaim, “Really? I know him from my economics class—I’m _definitely_ going to talk to him on Monday.”

 _Another success, I hope_ , he thought, and turned to the next person to approach him. It was the blonde man, Gwen’s soulmate. “Arthur,” he introduced himself. The vision he saw when he shook Arthur’s hand confirmed Gwen’s vision—they were definitely soulmates. He communicated this to Gaius and watched as Arthur sat on Gaius’s lap. He observed Arthur’s face as Gaius shared the information—a look of wonder came over it and he turned to look at Gwen, who was talking to Elena. Arthur smiled, got up and crossed the room to approach Gwen.

He turned back and saw there was a queue forming next to him. First was Percival, whose soulmate would be a girl named Freya—he hadn’t met her yet. Then a man named Elyan, who was Gwen’s brother. After him was a blonde woman named Vivian whose soulmate was standing behind her, oddly enough. Then a man named Leon, who was already dating his soulmate, as it turned out. Several others came, nearly every person at the party, when Morgana finally walked over.

“Hey,” she said, “I’m ready for Father Christmas now.” She smiled almost blindingly at him; he had to blink to clear his head. “Of course, right this way.” He gestured to Gaius and Morgana walked over him.

“ _What should I tell her?_ ” Gaius wanted to know.

“ _Tell her the truth. It’s going to happen no matter what. And I can’t say that I’m disappointed_.”

Gaius chuckled mentally. “ _I wouldn’t be either, if it was me_.”

Merlin sat and tried to remain aloof, but he could hear every word Morgana and Gaius said. “Are you serious?” he heard her say.

“Absolutely.”

“Ooh. Well, there’s no time like the present, is there?”

Merlin swallowed as a presence came up behind him. Morgana sat next to him and touched his arm. “Hi, so, we’re meant to be, yeah?”

He looked beyond her to see Gaius roll his eyes then get up and walk toward the food table. “Yeah, apparently.” She smiled and he felt nervous. “Look, I know it might seem self-serving to suggest we’re soulmates, but honestly, that’s what I saw.”

She looked into his eyes. “I believe you.”

“Just like that?”

“Yeah. Well, I did do some research on you. All the testimonials from happy couples and so forth. And I thought, hey, why not? Because dating gets old and I believe in true love.” He hand sneaked over his lap to rest on his.

“That’s—that’s kind of crazy, but kind of beautiful too.” He twisted his hand up so they could hold hands.

They smiled at each other. “Hey, you want to stay after the party? We can spend some time together, get to know each other a bit?”

“I’d like that.”

“Okay?”

“Okay.”

“Good.” She stood. “Let’s see if I can’t get this party moving bit.” She walked over to her sound system, fiddled with the mp3 player for a bit then yelled to the crowd. “Who’s ready to dance?”

Merlin hadn’t know there was such a thing as Christmas dance music, but as it began playing, people cheered and began dancing. Even Gaius swayed to the beat a bit. Morgana danced her way back to him and held out her hand. He took it and let her pull him up. Insanely enough, as he danced with her, he became more relaxed. And it felt good.

After an hour or so, Gaius decided to leave. Merlin was more than fine with that—the old man didn’t have to keep up with the uni kids, after all. Finally, at about 1 am, people began leaving. It was heartening to see Gwen and Arthur leaving together, in deep discussion.

At last he and Morgana were left alone. She grabbed his hand and yanked him toward the sofa, where they flopped wearily down. All the activity had made him bold, so he reached over and took her hand. “Hi, I’m Merlin.”

She smiled. “Morgana. I’m a third-year student at Albion studying political science. I have a half-brother and stepfather who actually turned out to be my real father . . .” She went on and on, talking about her mother’s death, her secret half-sister, her friends, courses, and more. By the end of the evening he also knew her favorite color, names of childhood pets and the fact that he was falling for her fast.

He told her all about his family, his father’s death, his friends, courses, and how he wished he had siblings. He also shared his hobbies, how his magic worked (she wasn’t scared), and about growing up underprivileged.

She seemed fascinated and kept leaning closer and closer to him until her head rested on his shoulder. At 3 am he felt all talked out and looked down at Morgana, who was looking back at him. Her smile made his heart catch and he knew for certain they were meant to be together. He leaned closer to her upturned face and pressed their mouths together.

He felt electricity at the contact, only instead of repelling him, it drew him further in. She turned to face him more fully and he lifted a hand to her cheek and slid it into her silky hair. One of her hands found its way to his waist, the other to his shoulder. He hummed and drew his hand through her hair over and over again.

She moved herself closer yet, breaking for a moment so they could breathe. He pressed their lips back together, the spark increasing this time. She moaned lightly and he licked at her bottom lip; she opened her mouth to him. He groaned as their tongues touched. That spurred her even more—she moved to straddle his lap. Her hands ran down his chest then up again to thread into his hair.

This was quickly becoming the hottest kiss he’d ever experienced. She was not only beautiful, but generous and warm, making sure he experienced as much pleasure as she did. And he was definitely enjoying the kiss.

They were both panting lightly when they finally broke apart. She looked at him, her expression showing wonder and desire. “Wow,” she said.

“Yeah,” he replied. He imagined he had the same look on his face.

She moved off of his lap. “I think I’d better stop right there. I’m not sure I’d be able to control myself.”

“I know the feeling.” He stood, looking down at her. “Thank you for a wonderful night.”

“Thank _you_ , Merlin.”

“So, tomorrow. Dinner?”

“Definitely.” They exchanged numbers. “I’ll call you.” She stood and walked with him to the door. “Happy Christmas, Merlin.” She opened the door.

“Happy Christmas, Morgana.” And after one last, lingering kiss he was off, floating down the hall to the elevator.


End file.
